Whenever you see headlines like “the fittest person on earth” or “the most fit athlete of 2015”, 9 out of 10 times it’s some endurance athlete that’s conquered some crazy feat.  And yes, it’s very impressive, but here’s where it gets confusing… these athletes are in amazing shape BUT that doesn’t mean that they’re healthy.

In fact, most elite endurance athletes are NOT healthy at all.  So it’s confusing to see a headline that says the “fittest person” and not think that they’re healthy as well.

Most us think that being fit means being healthy, and for the most part it’s true… unless we’re talking about elite endurance athletes.  In fact, several studies that show that endurance athletes are actually be hurting their bodies instead of helping.

Heart Disease and Endurance Athletes

Even though the assumption is that improving endurance helps decrease the risk of heart disease, multiple research studies have found a connection between endurance activities and an increase in arterial plaque levels.

It should be noted that the plaque seen in these endurance athletes is calcified, which is different than the ones observed in people with heart disease, which is less calcified.  Theoretically it’s more stable and has a lower risk of ruptures compared to plaque that is less-calcified.

That being said it’s still plaque and any kind of plaque can potentially lead to heart problems.  In fact, researchers have found that endurance athletes have a higher risk of heart problems, including cardiac arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, and other issues than other types of athletes.

Another research study completed in Montreal by the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress found that the physical strains of running a marathon increases the risk of cardiac problems by sevenfold.  The theory was that long-distance running increased the levels of inflammation in the body, which in turn results in a higher risk of heart damage after the marathon is over.  The increase in inflammation can actually trigger cardiac events in seemingly healthy people.

If you do your research, you will find study after study that backs up this fact: endurance training can actually harm your health.  Instead, there is a much safer and more effective way to improve your general health while enhancing your fitness level… including cardiovascular fitness.

Improving Your Fitness without Damaging Your Health

Studies prove that you do not need to put in miles on your running shoes if you want to improve your heart health and transform your physical appearance.  The best way to improve your fitness is by doing short intense workouts using functional full body exercises.  These workouts and exercises increase your heart rate for a brief period of time followed by rest which lowers your heart rate and then repeated again for a duration of 10 - 30 minutes and no longer.  Studies have found that stimulating your heart in this way is the safest and most effective way to improve cardiovascular health without putting excess (and dangerous) strain on your heart for a long period of time.

Let’s not forget the this type of exercise is also the best way to improve your body composition by burning off fat and building a lean and fit body.

How To Train For an Endurance Event without Hurting Your Body?

Now if you want to participate in endurance events, but you don’t want to hurt your body by doing traditional endurance training… here’s my recommendation.

I would combine doing short intense workouts (like I suggested above) with long endurance training.  But the key is to train long distance at a low intensities.  That means 50 - 60% of your max heart rate.  So if you running, you’ll want to run at a slow easy pace for the duration of the training.

The idea is to perform 2 extreme types of workouts:

1. Short and Hard

2. Long and Easy

If you’re working a typical 40 hour work week, you may want to do a short, hard workout 3 - 4 times a week during the work week and save the long, easy workout for the weekend day when you have more time.

So before you get too caught up on what you see and/or read about these elite endurance athletes, keep in mind what your real fitness goal is.  If your goal is to get lean, strong and fit while being able to sustain a normal enjoyable lifestyle, you’ll want to think twice before embarking on some crazy endurance fitness goal. Most elite endurance athletes have goals that have little to do with being fit and healthy… and usually requires major sacrifice that includes compromising their body and personal life to achieve their goals.